UPDATE: It appears to me, with the way this is working out, that the Saudi government might have intentionally caused this. Consider the following two new items:

The saudi version of events does not wash. But enough information is available to decipher the most probable reality: The massive security forces (150 heavily armed security officers) accompanying an un scheduled visit by a Saudi Prince caused a mass panic.

UPDATE: Despicable: Saudi army blocked all access to hospitals. UPDATE: With 2,000 confirmed dead, some countries are reporting that only 20 percent of missing people are accounted for, which means the death toll could go much higher than 2,000. This is an impossible scenario absent a massive panic – possibly caused on purpose.

If this was not done on purpose, then WHY would the Saudi military block access to hospitals?

At least 87 people were killed after a crane crashed earlier today in Mecca’s Grand Mosque with Saudi Arabia’s Civil defense adding another 184 people were injured in the fatal accident which takes place just weeks before Islam’s annual Hajj pilgrimage which takes place between September 21-26.

Archaeologists fear billion-pound development has led to destruction of key historical sites

The authorities in Saudi Arabia have begun dismantling some of the oldest sections of Islam’s most important mosque as part of a highly controversial multi-billion pound expansion.

Photographs obtained by The Independent reveal how workers with drills and mechanical diggers have started demolishing some Ottoman and Abbasid sections on the eastern side of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca.

The building, which is also known as the Grand Mosque, is the holiest site in Islam because it contains the Kaaba – the point to which all Muslims face when praying. The columns are the last remaining sections of the mosque which date back more than a few hundred years and form the inner perimeter on the outskirts of the white marble floor surrounding the Kaaba.

The new photos, taken over the last few weeks, have caused alarm among archaeologists and come as Prince Charles – a long-term supporter of preserving architectural heritage – flew into Saudi Arabia yesterday for a visit with the Duchess of Cornwall. The timing of his tour has been criticised by human rights campaigners after the Saudis shot seven men in public earlier this week despite major concerns about their trial and the fact that some of the men were juveniles at the time of their alleged crimes.